It takes a village to feed any community – especially a college campus. Students on the Dining Crew are the backbone of our Gladfelter Cafeteria – prepping, baking, cleaning, washing, and serving. Often working closely with the Core and Local Foods crews, the Dining Crew provides the fuel for the campus – while maintaining one of the top sustainable dining programs in the country.

My first year at Warren Wilson College, I was one of the first to work the pizza station in Gladfelter. I became known as ‘Pizza Pat’ to friends, faculty, staff, my supervisors, and eventually my family. It became part of my identity at Warren Wilson. The experience of being Pizza Pat my first year really eased my anxiety of being in a new school and place. Warren Wilson is so small it is easy to have a strong relationship with a faculty or staff member. Everyone is connected.

Patrick Downing ’16, Social Work Major

What You’ll Learn

You’ll spend years working alongside your peers with the mentorship of your supervisors.  Part of the experience of work at Warren Wilson is guided critical reflection, which helps ensure that you achieve both your own educational goals as well as our Common Learning Outcomes. These intentional learning outcomes distinguish our Work Program, giving it focus and relevancy that set it apart from a federal work-study or your average part-time job. 

Our Common Learning Outcomes:

• Professionalism & Work Ethic: accountability, effective work habits, punctuality, dependability, time management, integrity, and commitment to the well-being of the community.
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: working with available resources to creatively address issues and solve problems, and gaining confidence to make decisions.
• Communication: the ability to convey and receive information effectively with intentionality, honesty, and confidence in both speech and writing.
• Collaboration & Teamwork: actively collaborate with peers to achieve common goals, Distribute labor fairly, and hold each other accountable as committed members of a group.
• Civic Identity: understanding your active influence within the community and how your decisions directly impact the work around you.

In addition to our Common Learning Outcomes, each crew in the Work Program identifies crew-specific goals for learning and performance. These are reviewed with you each semester. Your crew-specific learning goals outline skills and abilities your supervisor will teach you during the semester.